aluminum cutting

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

i have a dozen or so aluminum spacers that need to be cut roughly in half, unfortunately i don't have a bandsaw or anything else suitable for the job. anyone out there willing to tackle it for a reasonable fee? btw they're the perfect diameter for fitting between a seat and side mounts, if anyone needs such a thing let me know and we'll cut some to your specific width. thanks, email me at jtower at gmail dot com.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:34 am

The hard part is most horizontal bandsaws (the one most folks have sitting around to do metal) have no way to hold something that short and still cut it.

You need a really nice vertical one.

--Donnie

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

Donnie Barnes wrote:

The hard part is most horizontal bandsaws (the one most folks have sitting around to do metal) have no way to hold something that short and still cut it.

You need a really nice vertical one.

--Donnie

i was going to use two small blocks of wood as "holders". a screw with head diameter a tick smaller than the spacer ID would be threaded in to keep them from shifting. maybe not perfect but should be adequate.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:18 pm

I had to have some bushings similar to this cut, and the CARQUEST machine shop on germantown road handled it for me.

You didn't mention it, but does the end result need to be fairly accurately measured?

They charged me $10 to cut two bushings to a specific measurement. That didn't seem unreasonable to me.

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

Jason Mauldin wrote:

I had to have some bushings similar to this cut, and the CARQUEST machine shop on germantown road handled it for me.

You didn't mention it, but does the end result need to be fairly accurately measured?

They charged me $10 to cut two bushings to a specific measurement. That didn't seem unreasonable to me.

cool, that's a good option. no they don't have to be accurate, in fact i want the cut location to be kind of random so i end up with 32 spacers of varying thickness.

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

i've been to three different machine shops and none have been able to cut these things for me. never in a million years would i have thought this task so difficult.

anyway, i fabbed up two wooden blocks with centering screws to hold the spacer, all i need now is a bandsaw to cut them. i'm really trying to get this done over the weekend so i can finish the seat mounting and move on to other tasks, if anyone is willing to let me use their equipment i'll gladly pay a rental fee for the privilege.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Jason Tower wrote:

i've been to three different machine shops and none have been able to cut these things for me. never in a million years would i have thought this task so difficult.

anyway, i fabbed up two wooden blocks with centering screws to hold the spacer, all i need now is a bandsaw to cut them. i'm really trying to get this done over the weekend so i can finish the seat mounting and move on to other tasks, if anyone is willing to let me use their equipment i'll gladly pay a rental fee for the privilege.

If you have fabbed up a jig, just use a sawzall. I've cut plenty of thick aluminum stuff with a sawzall, it's easy. If you don't have a sawzall bring 'em over here.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:26 am

Go to Lowes/Home Depot and buy a really cheap bandsaw/sawzall called a HACKSAW with the appropriate blades. Good exercise! Aluminum will just take time and maybe some sweat.

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

DickRasmussen wrote:

Go to Lowes/Home Depot and buy a really cheap bandsaw/sawzall called a HACKSAW with the appropriate blades. Good exercise! Aluminum will just take time and maybe some sweat.

while i'm at it i could sell the lawnmower and cut my yard with a pair of scissors. it's good exercise! just requires a little time and sweat. </good_natured_sarcasm>

for the record, i did try a hacksaw on one spacer just for grins (after i bought and installed a bench vice, which i needed to do anyway). took over half an hour and the result was a C- at best, the resulting surface was erratic and the faces noticeably non-parallel despite my best efforts. and i have sixteen of these to cut. a sawzall would probably speed the process up but the result would likely be just as poor, it's just not precise enough for such a small piece.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:05 pm

Sorry about that. :oops:

I didn't realize how many or how slow cutting the pieces are. Do any rental places rent bandsaws or chop saws?

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:46 pm

Would something like this work?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200365192

$60. 1 1/2 inch capacity. Comes with an abrasive metal cutting disc.

RobLupella · **Posted:** Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:10 am

Jason Tower wrote:

DickRasmussen wrote:

Go to Lowes/Home Depot and buy a really cheap bandsaw/sawzall called a HACKSAW with the appropriate blades. Good exercise! Aluminum will just take time and maybe some sweat.

while i'm at it i could sell the lawnmower and cut my yard with a pair of scissors. it's good exercise! just requires a little time and sweat. </good_natured_sarcasm>

for the record, i did try a hacksaw on one spacer just for grins (after i bought and installed a bench vice, which i needed to do anyway). took over half an hour and the result was a C- at best, the resulting surface was erratic and the faces noticeably non-parallel despite my best efforts. and i have sixteen of these to cut. a sawzall would probably speed the process up but the result would likely be just as poor, it's just not precise enough for such a small piece.

On the flip side, you would have real toned arms :lol:

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

Jason Mauldin wrote:

I had to have some bushings similar to this cut, and the CARQUEST machine shop on germantown road handled it for me.

You didn't mention it, but does the end result need to be fairly accurately measured?

They charged me $10 to cut two bushings to a specific measurement. That didn't seem unreasonable to me.

in the fwiw category - i called this place three times, each time i asked for the machine shop and was placed on hold for more than 10min before i hung up. how do places stay in business with such appalling incompetence and disregard for their customers?

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:35 pm

in the fwiw category - i called this place three times, each time i asked for the machine shop and was placed on hold for more than 10min before i hung up. how do places stay in business with such appalling incompetence and disregard for their customers?[/quote]

and that is y i left the place 12 years ago when they bought out motor bearings machine shop.

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:13 am

do you have a chop saw? you can buy those composite blades for them at lowes and they will cut metal nice and clean. as long as you have made a good fixture to hold the aluminum stock this would probably yield better results than a sawzall.

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